Know your Shadow
by Dysfunctional Serenity
Summary: Rated M for violence, not smut as there are no pairings in this, not your typical Heinoustuck! fic. The kids stumble into an abandoned area of town and find themselves trapped in a house, ensnared in a deadly game they're not sure they're even allowed to win.
1. Chapter 1

All four of the beta kids are my main characters, each with their own story and paths to walk, none more important than another. To keep everyone equal, each of the kids will have their own bit in each chapter and because I'm so OCD about organization, it'll be kept on a pattern of Dave, Rose, John, Jade, with inserted bits from... someone that I will not spoil... where I need... I'll say 'them' to avoid narrowing the list of possibilities you'll try to come up with. You're welcome.

So a long time ago I decided that I wanted to write a Heinoustuck! fic but I had no idea what it would be about that wasn't repetitive and stories like that end up being forgotten in the mess of my head because since I don't have anything for it, it dies. But my cousin *cough*secondbestfriend*cough* Cari was really excited about it and kept asking me if I had any ideas which kept me spinning it around in my head and I eventually decided to make it a survival based story since I've also wanted to do that. Anyway, this is the product and I'm proud and excited about it. Especially the ending. *laughs manically*

The point is, thanks Cari for pestering me about this until I came up with something.

If you ever have any questions about this... world I guess or the logic behind it, just let me know and I'll explain to the best of my ability. Thanks and I hope you enjoy this so I can see you again!

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><p>~*Dave Strider*~<p>

I stood in front of the gravestone before me with my hands stuffed deep into the pockets of my red zip up hoodie and a blank expression on my face. I still wore my black pajama pants and I hadn't bothered combing my blonde hair before I left the house this morning. I had literally just woken up, grabbed my phone, slipped into my shoes and jacket, and left to come here. But I did a once over myself and I looked fine as always, not like it mattered. Not today… not right now.

"I had another dream about you… about Alternia." I said to the gravestone as if it would answer me. "I failed everyone again. I let them down and they all left me because of it." I shook my head and bit my lip. "You always said you would be here for me…" I trailed off and didn't pick back up, not wanting to continue on that train of thought. After a long silence, I sighed and rubbed a little at my face. "I'm sorry, Gramps." I whispered as I walked a little closer to put my hand on top of his gravestone, kneeling down to rest my forehead on the cold stone. "It's been rough without you." I mumbled, wishing for the millionth time that this hadn't really happened. I know that he was old but… I guess a part of me just always thought he would never die. I always believed that he was invincible because nothing ever got that dude down. He was a fighter, just as he had taught me to be. I thought he would live forever… yet, here I was… kneeling before his grave. If we were in the Kingdom of Alternia, there would have been a huge ceremony for the lost king and the brave, strong knight would have led the funeral with a determined front. But instead, there was a small and dull funeral and the pathetic knight was blank and gone… lost. He didn't hear a single word that was said or see anything but the memory he now saw every time he closed his eyes. I couldn't see anything but the fresh memory of going to wake up my grandpa… but he wouldn't wake up and he never would again. It was so hard to accept.

I finally stood up, backed off, bowed to my king like the good knight I was, and turned to walk away. I had been here long enough and figured it was time to go home… _home_… the word seemed so foreign to me now. I suppose 'home' was currently the Lalonde Residence. For as long as I can remember, Rose Lalonde and I have been friends. Apparently our parents were close once upon a time so we were born friends and even after my parents took off, Gramps always said that they couldn't bear to see us separated because we were so close so he became friends with her parents just to give us an excuse to see each other. We were around each other so much we literally thought we were siblings; we thought that she was living with our parents and I was living with our grandpa. Imagine the shock we were in when we found out we weren't actually related. Even so, we've never stopped seeing the other as a sibling and to this day I call her my sister and she refers to me as her brother. She called my gramps Grandfather or Granddad up until his death, I still call her parents my parents, and we both still keep in contact with her dad even though he left a few years ago.

After Gramps died, Mom was kind enough to let me live with them. We had been a part of each other's family and households before all this so it really hasn't changed much, guess the only difference is there's no apartment to go back to and there's someone very important missing. Other than that, everything's the same. Well, I never used to just up and leave before but over the past few weeks this has somewhat become the norm for me. At random times, day or night, I would just leave without warning or informing anyone. But they knew where I was. They didn't have to ask… it was just obvious. At least it should be, I wasn't trying to be secretive about it or anything and Rose claimed to be so observant of everything. Neither Rose nor Mom has questioned me about it so I just figured they knew. They were smart girls; I wouldn't be related to them if they weren't.

I hadn't noticed it but my feet had started to carry me in the wrong direction and I was now only about three blocks from the apartment my grandpa and I had shared up until his death a few weeks ago. I hated even thinking those words 'his death' but Rose said it would help me get over it so I continued to allow those words to haunt my mind. I couldn't just turn around like I hadn't intended on coming this way, that'd be so uncool. So I played it off and headed to a nearby convenient store, man were these things named well. So convenient.

Exiting with my newly purchased box of delicious as fuck apple juice, I now made my way back to the Lalonde Residence. Mom and Rose kept trying to tease me that I was a Lalonde now. Dave Lalonde. How about, no. I liked to call it the Stri-Londe Residence. Now that's smooth.

I sucked down my juice quickly regardless that I somehow wasn't all that interested in it. I tossed it into a garbage bin as I passed it and kept walking with my hands in my pockets and my head held up like I didn't have any problems to weigh me down to the ground. It was pretty nice to be me, having the awesome essence of irony laced into my every word and the pure power of cool dripping off of my very being. Yeah, I've got the sweetest of lives. No one dares to approach me because they're all too busy either swooning over me or wishing they were me. I'm the most desired piece of ass in this universe and the next. What idiotic bullshit. Uh… where was I going with this? Shit, I forgot. Whatever, I was almost back to the house so I better figure out what I'm going to do for the remainder of the day so I'm not bored out of my mind. Today's kind of a TV, videogame, and ignore everybody day. Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.

I took a breath as I opened the front door and stepped in to be greeted by the usual smell of faint alcohol and cleaning supplies that was typically found wherever Mom went.

~*Rose Lalonde*~

Flipping the page of my book, I quickly turned my eyes to the clock hung on the wall opposite of me. It's been two and a half hours. I wasn't sure how much longer he would be gone for, just the other day he had left shortly after noon and didn't return until ten at night. I was hoping he wouldn't be gone that long again because I was worried about him. Sure we knew he was only leaving to visit Grandfather's grave and not to do whatever people think typical teenagers do these days but that didn't mean it was any better. Actually he would probably be better off with the drugs and whores than with the pent up emotions he's not dealing with.

Dave Strider had lost who might as well have been his only relative just weeks ago and he was still really torn up about it even if he didn't show or admit it. His parents hadn't wanted him as they only cared about going off and doing those same things people think all teenagers do so they pawned Dave off on his grandfather when he was an infant. He has still never met his parents, they didn't even show up for their own father's funeral, and I believe he's grown to resent them though whenever I try to talk to him about it or anything about the inner workings of his mind, he just changes the subject. Regardless of his silence, he remains to be my favorite subject of study and observation.

Speaking of subjects, here comes another. I lifted my head ever so slightly when I heard my mother descending the stairs. She was a wreck just as she was every other morning with her shoulder length blonde hair a mess, yesterday's makeup still smudged on her face, and what little clothing she wore in disarray. She looked at me before looking around the room and even craning her neck instead of just turning around to peer into the kitchen.

"Did Davey leave?" she asked and I sighed but nodded, returning to my book. I was already sick of talking to her. She may not be drunk, though I give that an hour at most, but she had an obvious hangover and while that was a bit better, she was still annoying.

"Yes. I was going to go with him but he was already gone before I woke up so I figured he wanted some time alone." I explained and barely caught my mother's nod as she rubbed at her face. She was hung-over so no doubt she had a headache that she thought wouldn't go away until she started drinking again. Well she knew it would go away on its own; she just wasn't willing to wait for that. She turned to walk into her bar room and I sighed heavily, rolling my eyes at her before going back to my book once more. I hated her drinking; I really wish she would just stop. I had long since given up on trying to help her quit because she's just not willing to quit. It wasn't always like this, I can still remember when she had begun drinking though it's not a memory I can say I highly enjoy recalling.

I was ten when my grandparents, my mother's parents, passed away. I didn't really know them so I didn't exactly care but my mother was a wreck. She started to drown herself in alcohol and having been so young, I didn't understand what was happening to her so I strived to find out. That was what lit the fire of passion I now hold for psychology. Eventually her drinking had caused my father to leave us… and while I honestly can relate more to my father and enjoy his company better, I chose to stay with my mother because I believe that she needs me more. My father understood and let me stay with her instead of fighting for custody over me. We keep in touch but rarely visit since he lives out of state. I don't mind, I'm very independent so I don't see it as not having a father rather than he's just a long distance friend that I'll see when I can.

My head shot up when the front door was opened to allow a very familiar someone into the house.

"Welcome back Dave, how was your trip?" I asked before he was able to retreat upstairs to his bedroom. He sighed but turned to answer me.

"Fine." I nodded slightly at his lack of an actual explanation as I lowered my book and crossed my legs to show him that I was listening. He shifted his weight from leg to leg and leaned back slightly as he folded his arms over his chest defiantly. "Don't give me that look." he almost pouted.

"What look?" I questioned with a puzzled expression. Of course I knew what look he was talking about, I was aware that I had a certain posture or 'look' when I was trying to get into someone's mind. While I wasn't always aware when and if I was doing it, I was aware that I did do it. But if I were to drop the case, Dave would get away from me just like that so it was helpful to play dumb.

"_That_ look." he waved a hand to gesture at me. "That therapist look when you cross your legs and hold your head in your hand and you look at me like I'm a subject ready for dissection."

"Oh yes, that look. You've mentioned it to me on numerous occasions." I smiled reassuringly at him. "My apologies, Sir Subject." he stared at me blankly before shaking his head and turning away from me only to be faced with Mother.

"There you are, I was looking for you." she cooed as she collected the boy into her arms. I noticed the slight sag to his shoulders at having been caught and I smiled a bit smugly as I reopened my book to pick up on my reading.

"I wasn't gone that long."

"Oh I don't care, I wanted to hug you and you weren't here so it felt like a long time." I rolled my eyes at my mother's words, thinking about how it was most likely just her hangover that was causing her confusion in time. She had only been awake mere minutes.

"Alright, alright, mind letting me go now Mom? I've got shit to do." I peeked up from my book to watch as my mother pouted and released him. Shit to do, huh? Perhaps I could wreck said shit.

"Alright, go on then." with that, my brother went for the stairs and my eyes moved back down to the words on the page of the book in my hands. I would give him a few minutes to get started on whatever it was he had planned before going to pester him. Hopefully this time Mother wouldn't intrude upon our tentacle therapy session of dissection.

~*John Egbert*~

I snickered as a heard a key in the lock of the front door and rushed into the hallway to peek out so I could see the door but the person that walked in wouldn't be able to see me too easily. I covered my mouth with my hands to keep from laughing too loudly as the door was opened, pushing on the bottom of the bucket brilliantly hung above the door which caused the top to tip onto the person walking in. I watched as the green slime I had made earlier this morning poured down onto the teenaged girl with long black, curly hair which was now soaked in green. She jumped and shrieked in surprise, already trying to wipe the slime off of her body.

"John!" she screamed and I really wanted to bust up laughing my ass off but I managed to hold it in though I giggled loudly into my hands. I took a few very deep breaths and made my way over to her, failing at keeping all of my laughter back. "What the hell?" the look on her face was priceless! It was a huge combination of anger, surprise, fear, 'what the hell is this stuff', and 'never mind I really don't want to know'. It was simply too much! I exploded into a fit of laughter that hurt my stomach and left me breathless! I hunched over and held my arms over my stomach as I tried to answer her but I was laughing way too hard to even breathe! "You're cleaning this up." the tone she had used was lighter than before and I guessed that she looked at herself in the mirror that hung on the wall to assess the damage and understood why I found it so fucking hilarious.

"Green's… a great… color- for you… Jade!" I managed to get out and she chuckled with a roll of her vibrant green eyes shielded by large rounded glasses.

"Seriously, you're cleaning this up." she repeated, continuing to wipe the goo off of herself. I nodded and folded onto myself, quickly falling forward when I leaned forward too far but I took the floor like a man, my laughter never ceasing.

… … …

"Geez you have a lot of hair." I groaned as I ran my hands through the thick black mess in front of me. Jade was leaned over the bathtub where we had the water running so we could wash the green slime out of her hair. I was just going to leave her to it so I could go clean up the floor and the bucket but she forced me to help her with her hair and now I understood why; it was a pain in the ass to maintain. I don't know how she did it on a daily basis.

"Well it's your fault that we're in this situation, John." she shot back and I smiled in satisfaction.

"Yeah but it was _so_ worth it." I chuckled and she shook her head at me.

"Just get it all out." she mumbled, her own hands moving to help spread the shampoo through her dark locks. I sighed and continued to wash away the sticky green goo.

"I've never washed someone else's hair before let alone someone with so much of the stuff as you so give me a break." I tried to pull my fingers out of the dark swarms of hair that seemed to eat up my hands only to have knots hold them back and make it difficult.

"Gee thanks. When people used to wash my hair they would usually just say that it was pretty and move on."

"Those were girls, I'm a guy." I reminded her and she laughed. "And as a guy, and your brother, it's my job to tell you what a mess your hair is and complain about doing this every few seconds." she laughed harder and I joined her. "But you do have very pretty hair." I added and she thanked me. I slowed down and took more time, using a bit of strategy to untangle my fingers from Jade's hair before combing my digits through the soaked silk to smooth out each strand of the large mass of black. So pretty. I thought about how nice it would actually be to do this every now and then but she was actually usually very strict about people touching her hair. I didn't really blame her either.

When Jade was six, she was in a car accident… her entire family was killed, she was the sole survivor. Her grandpa once told me a little about it when I was staying the night with them until Jade caught us talking about it and started screaming about how it wasn't any of my business to know and about how it was wrong of her grandpa to tell me so I don't know any details, in fact everything I know is extremely vague. But apparently they were all out for a drive when her parents got into some sort of fight and crashed. She had a sister a few years older than her who was said to be like a mother to her and would always do her hair which is why she doesn't let anyone touch it now. I don't know why but the last thing her grandpa said about it was that she blames herself for the crash. That's about all I know. Told ya, vague.

It drove me nuts not knowing but Jade doesn't talk about it, ever- I don't even think she thinks about it; she just hates the very subject so much. If anyone tries to bring it up, she gets really pissy and shuts everything out. Even after eleven years, she won't open up to anyone about it. Not even me, not even her grandpa. Sometimes I would hear her mumbling about how she didn't know and from the way she said it and the depressed look on her face that could kill puppies, it was obvious that she was talking about her lost family and I understood that more than she would like to hear about.

I too had trouble with not knowing things about my family. I asked my dad about her at least a thousand times, no exaggeration there, but he always came up with a new story and it didn't help that he always had to make them so unrealistic it was unbearable. When I was younger, I became afraid of paranormal things such as ghosts, sprites, trolls, and magic because Dad would say things like she was abducted by them or she was on a secret mission to save their species or something like that. But then I took a heavy fascination in them and learned as much as I could so that I could one day save her. Until I grew old enough to realize what a huge load of shit all that was. Nevertheless, I still have an interest in the paranormal because that stuff is awesome.

I have foggy memories of visiting a hospital when I was very little and though I've asked my dad about that too, he just laughs it off and tells another one of his ridiculous stories. I then tried my hand at hacking, hoping I could find some trace of her but I'm shit at hacking and it's a frustrating learning process that I don't have the patience for so I quickly gave up. Since my dad tells more of his stories about her when I ask about the hospital, I've deduced that the two are related in some way. My best theory is that she was sick and died in the hospital where Dad used to take me to visit but he doesn't have the heart to tell me.

All I know is that I don't have a mother.

"Are you done yet? This is a really uncomfortable position." Jade whined and I sighed, having just begun to have fun doing this. I leaned a bit closer to investigate for any traces of green left in the black.

"Yeah, it looks like it's all out." I nodded as I pulled away from my sister to grab a towel for her to dry her hair with.

"Sweet, thank you." she chimed as she sat up more to squeeze all the access water from her hair and then turning a bit to take the blue towel from me before rubbing it over her head.

"Anytime." I said, hoping that she would take me up on that offer sometime. "I'm gonna go clean the floor and such now." I called to her as I stood up to leave. She just said that she would meet me out there soon so I left to do my cleaning.

~*Jade Harley*~

I stared into the bathroom mirror as I wrapped my impossible hair tightly up in the towel John had lent me. Once I finally had it all up, I put my glasses back on and adjusted them to where they felt comfortable. Ever since I moved in with my grandpa eleven years ago, I've been wearing these silly big glasses and I still fidgeted with them as if they were uncomfortable though they weren't. Maybe it was just because they were the same style as my sister's that I felt a touch odd in them. My hands clenched into fists and I sighed heavily in frustration. Why was I even thinking about this stuff? Before I could start thinking of anymore depressing or angering things, which my mind seemed to rather enjoy doing whenever it had the chance, I turned and exited the bathroom to step into the living room, watching as John continued cleaning his homemade slime off of the ground which seemed to be coming out of the white carpet very well. For his sake, I was glad. Wouldn't want his dad getting mad at him for a prank he worked so hard on. I think it was punishment enough just having to clean it all up. Still, I was so going to get him back for pranking me.

I thought about calling out to my claimed brother but I decided not to. Instead I watched him intently as I thought of many pranks in which I could play on him, trying to find the best to pull. There were so many- I couldn't decide! Maybe I could get Dave and Rose in on it too and we could all think of something. Yeah! That sounded like fun!

Speak of the devils; someone's trying to get my attention. I retrieved my vibrating phone from my skirt pocket to see that Dave was pestering me which came as a rather big surprised. After his grandfather passed away, he asked us to give him some space and said he would contact us when he was ready. Since then, we haven't heard from him though Rose has been keeping us informed of his mental state so that we wouldn't worry too much about him. I guess this meant that he was ready.

- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG] -

TG: save me harley  
>TG: my sister is crazy<br>GG: whats she doing now?  
>TG: shes trying to get into my head again<br>TG: please jade save me  
>GG: shes probably just worried about you, we all are!<br>TG: yeah okay whatever just dont make me stay here with her alone  
>TG: lets all hang out or something<br>GG: a family get together? how can i say no?  
>GG: im over at johns right now so let me run it by him first!<br>TG: hurry it up

"Hey John!" I called to get his attention. He turned to see me and giggled a bit at how silly I looked with this towel wrapped around my head but I ignored that and continued. "Dave wants to hang out."

"Really?" he asked, surprised. "Guess he's finally coming out of his room then, huh?" I sighed and I pressed my lips into a line. Dave had been locked up in his room though Rose reports that he often leaves the house to visit his grandpa's grave and can be gone for hours so it's not like he was actually in his room the whole time. He had just needed some space to try and actually accept what has happened and when he's able to do that, we'll be here to help him cope. Just as they were there for me when I needed them, we'll be there for him.

"He said Rose is trying to get into his head again so he doesn't want to be alone with her." I corrected, not wanting to discuss Dave's absence.

"Ah, that makes sense." he nodded as he started to put away all the cleaning supplies he had gotten out. "Still feel bad for the dude, having to spend all that time in the hospital with his grandpa. I hate hospitals." he shivered and I rolled my eyes. I knew what it was like to stay in a hospital for a long amount of time but I wasn't just visiting, I was the one in the hospital and I can honestly say that it's far worse that way than visiting.

"I'm pretty sure that's still a sore subject for him so be nice and don't bring it up." I told him and he nodded, waving me off.

"Sure, sure." I followed him into the kitchen where he began washing the faint green color from his hands.

"So what am I telling Dave?"

"I'm more than okay with seeing him, it's been a while. Is Rose coming?" he called back over the noise of the running water.

"I don't know, I'll ask."

GG: he says that he's okay with hanging out! is rose coming too?  
>TG: yeah she said that she wanted to come<br>GG: where are we meeting up?  
>TG: my park<br>GG: you really seem like that place dave!  
>TG: of course i do its my park after all<br>TG: but seriously its a pretty chill park and no one else goes to the east part of town anymore so its the perfect place to hang out without interruption  
>GG: i never said it wasnt cool! :B<br>GG: anyway, well see you there in a bit! :)  
>TG: see ya harley<p>

- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering gardenGnostic [GG] -

I looked back to John when the shut the water off and started drying his hands on the bottom of his shirt.

"Yes, Rose will be coming with us!" I exclaimed happily and he nodded with a wide smile.

"So where are we going?"

"Dave's park." I answered as I carefully removed the towel from my head, running it over my hair once more as we made our way back into the living room to put our shoes on.

"That place is pretty cool; I just wish it wasn't so far away." John complained and while I did agree with him, I said nothing on the subject. Instead, I rushed back up the stairs to leave the towel on the bathroom counter and quickly brush my hair before making my way back down to John who held the front door open for me to walk out of with him following.


	2. Chapter 2

Heyo! Just got back from vacation with no internet (lies, I've been back for three days now but this chapter still needed touch ups)- here's a present, everything I finished while I was away. I hope you all had awesome holidays, I'd love to hear your stories!

This chapter was mean to me- it was really boring and I didn't want to write it but I had to- you're welcome for loving you enough to force myself through it! Anyway, I got it done and it's here so we're good. The third chapter is a LOT more fun than this one and is the start of everything so let's get to it! Hope you enjoy this slow chapter and look forward to the next one.

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><p>~*Dave Strider*~<p>

I walked toward our destination, trying to ignore the eyes baring into the side of my head but it was just as distracting as always. What made it worse is that she knew it got to me when she just stared at me silently because I knew she wanted something out of me. Well she went ignored because I didn't want to deal with her insistent means of trying to get into my head at the moment, and yes admittedly I do go to her for help sometimes. Most of the time she knew when to back off but unfortunately she claimed that she knew when I needed to be picked at even if I didn't want to be. She had left me alone up until a few days ago so maybe she thought it was time I came out of my shell... and maybe she was right. I've been holed up by myself since Gramps died and... I haven't really talked to anyone so maybe she understood that if I didn't get out soon, I never would. Maybe? Who do I think I'm talking about? This was Rose Lalonde, of course she knew all of this. She was probably trying to decide if I had suggested this hangout just to avoid her as I claimed or if I was really coming out of my shell a little bit.

"Yes." I sighed and she only tilted her head slightly in question. "I'm okay and wanna hang out with our friends." she smiled small and nodded before finally looking away from me which usually meant that she didn't believe me. I sighed to myself but didn't fight my case. Honestly even I wasn't fully sure if I was actually fine or not... damn her for making me think about these things. But I did want to see John and Jade, I missed those two dorks.

"The other two may ask questions, what do you plan to tell them?" Rose asked, still facing forward and I shrugged.

"The usual." she nodded with a sigh which told me she disapproved but it was bad enough having her trying to snoop around in my head, I didn't need the others there too. At least she dropped it. Scratch that, she just folded her arms and peeked at me... she wants me to say something but I had nothing to say. "Later Sis." I ordered with an annoyed tone.

"Alright, dearest brother." her arms fell to her sides and she stared ahead, finally leaving it alone. Thank god.

"How did I not guess that?" Jade yelled in frustration and John just laughed. I inwardly sighed, glad to hear their playful voices again and that I didn't have to be alone with Rose anymore. I loved Rose but she can get a little overwhelming at times.

"It seems the other two beat us here for once." I commented and the girl at my side nodded.

"They must be proud of themselves." she agreed before calling out to them when they came into view. "What are you two doing?"

"We're playing I Spy." Jade called back.

"And I'm kicking her ass!" John laughed before we heard a whack.

"How do you kick someone's ass at I Spy?" I questioned and the two whipped around as if they forgot I was coming.

"Dave!" "Dave!" they both called in unison before getting off their asses to meet us halfway.

"Long time no see, jerk." Jade giggled as she playfully punched my shoulder, her brother nodding agreeably with a smile directed at me.

"Yeah dude we were worried Rose hooked you to a weird device to read your mind and accidentally turned your brain into mush! Hehe." he shrugged cinematically. "I wasn't too upset though because I knew your ghost would come to haunt me for that one time that I slept over and put one of your brother's smuppets next to your face while you were still sleeping." the boy was laughing by the time he finished, even hunching over slightly while holding his stomach. "And when you woke up- you totally freaked! It was hilarious!" I rolled my eyes and smacked him upside the head but he still laughed.

"You know I actually forgot about that." I shook my head at him, knowing he was trying to make this reunion has cheerful as possible. "But you're right, I totally would come to haunt you. I would throw swords at you all day."

"Come on Dave, that's so not cool of you. I'd have to call the Ghostbusters if you did that and I don't want them to suck you up into their awesome gadgets!" John whined now and the girls laughed before Jade hooked their arms together and dragged him over to Rose to do the same to her and eagerly pulled them closer to the playground. I didn't notice them retreating as I was looking around with a cautious gaze. It passed now but I felt something like… someone was watching me and in my mind I could almost see a twisted smile full of malice. It was very unnerving.

"Dave's it!" she yelled before they all started to run away from me.

"Oh you just painted a target on your forehead Harley!" I shouted back as I chased after them. I suddenly stopped and looked around, feeling threatened. There was that feeling again but it was stronger now.

"Come closer." a strange static shaken voice whispered close to my ear and I spun around to find the source but there was nothing there. I glared at everything around me as I searched for whatever this was but there was just nothing! Behind the danger I felt… intrigued. What was this curious feeling- this pull to find whatever was calling to me? It was demanding and sadistic so why did I want to find it?

"Dave!" my sister called to me, pulling my attention from whatever battle was going on in my mind. "Come on." she smiled warmly and waved me over happily with the others. I smirked and once again made my way over to them, choosing to ignore the pull of that mysterious voice in favor of the company of my friends.

~*Rose Lalonde*~

I had begun to notice Dave's odd behavior since we had come to the park. Whatever it was that was eating at him must really be weighing down on him since I could see it so clearly, I think the other two have noticed it as well. His gaze continuously strayed elsewhere like whatever it was he was searching for held a greater interest to him than our silly games. We were just trying to cheer him up, if he didn't want to participate he could have just said so yet I don't believe that was it. I believe he is enjoying himself but something simply keeps pulling his attention away.

"Dave." I called to get his attention but he simply nodded once to acknowledge me without turning to look at me. "What are you looking for?" I asked, gazing in the direction he was facing but saw nothing odd.

"Have you guys ever noticed that there's another neighborhood over there?" he spoke casually, rolling his shoulder as he did.

"Whoa!" John exclaimed just before his sister and I turned to them in confusion, not understanding the amazement their eyes held that was too real to just be a joke. "I knew it was there but I didn't really... realize it."

"Me too... hey Dave, how long do you think it's been like this?"

"Don't know but judging by the level of decay on all the houses, I'd say a long time." the blonde shrugged though he seemed a bit relieved not to be the only one to see it.

"What are you guys..." I trailed off as I again looked to where the others were and my eyes widened when they were met with the sight of a whole neighborhood that my eyes just kind of hovered passed just a moment ago. But... how? The houses all seemed to have been abandoned for so long; all the grass and weeds were overgrown, having been allowed to grow without any sort of supervision. Vines creeping up their walls like arms extending to reach for some sort of salvation from this desolated place. The tiles on the houses were cracked and falling apart, the paint mostly eroded away by the weather that assaulted this place year after miserable year. Aged cracks rested at the foundation and in the road between them where more nature seeped through to escape being confined to the ground though that's where they now lay dead, adding to the gloom of the atmosphere. It was so eerie. Though the neighborhood was full of nature's decor, nothing was alive and not even the healing touch of the sun's rays seemed to reach the forsaken place.

"Well come on, let's explore!" Jade exclaimed, running forward with a summoning wave of her arm.

"Yeah!" "Alright." the boys agreed as they started to follow her.

"Wait!" I called to stop them. "Isn't anyone else going to question how it's possible that none of us noticed this entire side of town?" was I really the only one that found this odd? Or was it that the others didn't care?

"Well I think it's kind of like this thing on Doctor Who, something about the corner of your eye. It's not that you don't see that something is there but your mind doesn't really register that it's there until someone points it out to you." John explained with a thoughtful tap on his chin and an accomplished smile.

"I'm familiar. But if that's the case, doesn't it strike you as a bit foolish to rush into the place someone went through so much trouble to hide or how they even managed to do it or why?" my friends looked at each other, sharing gazes that asked what they should do or say but they eventually gave shrugs.

"I don't think we'll run into anything dangerous except for maybe some wild animals but I'm sure they'll just be protecting their homes." the other girl reassured with a wide toothy smile. I gave her a disbelieving look as I bent my hip, placing a hand on it to heighten the sass. Everyone's eyes again turned to the neighborhood in question then back to Jade with the same look I was giving her. She laughed small and shrugged. "Okay so maybe there aren't any animals there." she brightened up again though her eyes held some pleading in them now. "But that just proves my point more that we're not going to be in any trouble so why not go?"

"I'm afraid you've only managed to prove my point of why go if not even the animals will?" I informed her with a sigh and a shake of my head.

"Well maybe the animals just can't see it like we couldn't." she shot back with a pouty face. I sighed again and didn't say anything since that was a possibility. That's exactly what I didn't like about this though, everything was a possibility- we didn't know anything about what happened there or what we were walking into. It was a bad idea and I was the only one that seemed to know it.

"Come on Rose, the place is totally deserted, we'll be fine. Let's go see what cool things were left behind." John pleaded, obviously thinking that this was cool or something. I looked to my brother to gauge if he wanted to go into the abandoned neighborhood as badly as the dark haired siblings obviously did but he was still gazing off at the old buildings as if he were searching for something. He must be pretty distracted not to be spewing about what horrors could be lurking around in the darkened houses… he must really be distracted not to say anything… I knew something was wrong. Whatever had grabbed his attention was there and I didn't have the best feeling about him finding it. But I knew that he must really want to go there to be staring so intently this whole time.

"Fine, let's go." I surrendered and the other set of siblings cheered while Dave turned to me, staring down at me for a few long moments. He was searching for something in me now though I couldn't really tell what. Perhaps he was wondering why I agreed to go when I was so obviously against it. If he would just ask I would explain my interest in monsters of darkness and magic, I would admit that I was secretly hoping to gain some real experience, and I would tell him I was actually was curious to learn about this place and about what it was that he was so infatuated with. He turned away from me like he found his answer and started walking with the others so I caught up to them as we headed into the old side of town.

~*John Egbert*~

Rose made a good point about rushing into a place someone- or something went to great lengths to hide but come on! It was so cool and exciting! Who wouldn't want to go exploring in an abandoned part of town? It was old so everything was bound to creak even if there was no one there- which meant there were ghosts around! I was getting goose bumps just thinking about seeing them!

We walked in the middle of the road, looking back and forth at all the houses we passed. Everything was disappointingly quiet like death had come through here and taken even the sound. There were no unexplained creaks or even chirping birds or whines of animals that had made this deserted place their home- not even the wind seemed to dare blow here to make the trees sway in its breeze. It was kind of sad really, I liked the wind, it gave a sort of comfort to me and I didn't feel right in its eerie absence. It was far too still… it totally felt like we were in a horror movie! I was so looking forward to running into a ghost or two in this creepy place but now I was just feeling a little scared.

"Why do you think all the doors were left open?" I questioned as we passed yet another house with the front door left wide open, allowing my curious eyes to see the rundown interior that matched its exterior. The door itself was beat up and the couch inside was tossed over to make room for the trunk that had sprouted up from under the house and pierced through the floor. I'd hate to have that happen to me.

"Who knows John, maybe Nic Cage came to town and everybody got the hell out before they were forced to watch his shitty performances." Dave snickered and I shoved him lightly.

"Yeah right Dave, look at how old everything is." I commanded, using my arm to gesture toward all the old fashioned houses. "There's no way Nic Cage was even born when this place was abandoned! It was more likely a zombie invasion or something." Jade laughed half mocking my theory but still because she found it a funny suggestion.

"Then where are the corpses or the military supplies?" she questioned and I sighed, knowing she was right.

"Alien abduction?" I tried again, tapping a bit at my chin as I craned my neck to peer into another house. This one didn't have as much overgrowth inside though it was pretty dark since the curtains were closed so I couldn't actually really tell from where we were.

"In the spirit of humoring you, I suppose it is a possibility." Rose said with a thoughtful tone, looking my way for a moment before her eyes continued to roam the decaying buildings.

"One way to find out." I called with an upbeat voice though I was nervous as I started toward a house. I heard a complaining sigh from Rose, an excited chuckle from Jade, and nothing from Dave. I first peeked in before slowly setting a foot into the front room to test the flooring which creaked a little but supported my weight just fine. The others followed me in cautiously and we looked around. The decorating and everything was really old and dust covered every available surface.

"By the decor, I'd venture that this neighborhood is possibly... maybe up to a century old." Rose commented as my sister bound around, taking in the mysterious surroundings. It was odd... it was so gloomy even with the curtains open, like all the life and color had been drained from the entire place. My framed eyes wandered the room, searching for some sort of life among death. I found it in something blue covered by dust and mold but it still held a spark of life that everything else had lost. I walked over to the small inflatable hammer like the ones you can still get at carnivals and cleaned it up a bit and held it out in front of me. The actual hammer part was square and two shades of blue, it was connected to a yellow rectangle with a large Z on it, the back was curved and colored like a rainbow which ended with a ball that had a smiley face on it, the rainbow had a small extension on the top with a star on it, and the bar was spiraled blue and red while the handle was striped blue and yellow. It was totally stupid yet cool at the same time but more than that, compared to everything else here… it was alive and that brought me comfort like maybe survival was a possibility here.

"That's almost as gay as you are bro." Dave laughed mockingly but I just rolled my eyes and ignored him, I'd prank him as pay back later.

"I think it's cute." Jade reassured me with a sad smile. "It seems to brighten things up a bit."

"Yeah." I nodded in agreement, glad that I wasn't the only one thinking that. I lazily dusted off a nearby rocking chair to place the bright hammer on so it was on display to give the room a more lively feeling.

"Sorry John but I don't think the residents were abducted by aliens." Rose called as she walked back into the living room. I finally looked away from the hammer to face her, unaware that she had left. "Personal belongings are missing though a lot else was left behind which means they most likely left in a rush." I sighed, trying to think of another theory.

"Then what drove them out?" I wondered aloud though no one answered, no ideas to speak of.

"Come on, let's keep exploring. Maybe we'll find some clues in another house." my sister said with an encouraging smile, tugging lightly on my arm to get me to follow her. I looked to the other two for confirmation and both blondes nodded to me though seemed a little distant like their heads were elsewhere. I looked back at the hammer, knowing this would be the last time I saw it and noticed that for the first time in this place, some light was actually shining and it was directly on the colorful item which made it almost glow with life. Maybe it was magical.

"Alright." I smiled with a newfound hope for this dreadful place and left the old house with my friends to go to the next one.

~*Jade Harley*~

I tried to think of some sort of explanation as to what happened here, if not for my own curiosity then for John's. I could see that he was taking everything he saw and observed into account and tried to formulate some sort of theory but just like me, he couldn't think of anything that stuck. All the pieces I managed to put together fell apart when the next piece presented itself.

"Let's go in this one!" John called, waving us over to a building across the street. I raised an eyebrow, wondering when he had gotten away from the rest of us but followed him into the next house. It was a little more damaged than the others though it was cleaner as if the people that used to live here so long ago were neater than the other home owners around here. I wandered toward the stairs, asking myself if I even dared stepping up a single one lest it break under me.

"Going up?" Dave asked as he popped up behind me.

"Huh? Uh- no, I don't think so!" I exclaimed as I turned around, waving my hands back and forth.

"Why not?" he asked before stepping closer to me which put us at an uncomfortable closeness.

"I'm not sure I trust the stairs." I said but the blonde only continued to progress on me, putting a hand on the wall and the other on the railing to block off my escape.

"I'm sure they're fine, you won't know until you try." he taunted me with a smirk that didn't quite seem like his. It was hard to explain what was different but Dave just didn't seem like himself today… he must be struggling with his grandpa's death more than he's letting on. I felt bad for him.

"Dave I don't want to go-" I stopped and listened, waiting for the stair I accidentally just stepped back on to break but it didn't.

"See? You're fine." he mocked with that condescending smirk that wasn't his. He patted my head and I watched him as he passed me to climb the stairs as if they were totally safe. Something was wrong.

"Dude did Dave just go upstairs?" my brother questioned as he and Rose came in, having heard the creaking of the Strider's feet on the old stairs.

"Yeah, he did."

"Man he's crazy." John laughed while the other only stared up where our friend had just ascended with worried eyes.

"There's something wrong with him, isn't there?" I asked softly, fearing I would strike a nerve in someone.

"Jade he just lost his grandpa, of course he's gonna act a little weird." framed blue eyes rolled at me but I ignored him and looked to Rose for answers. She returned my gaze and sighed.

"He's been like this since Grandfather passed but today is different though I can't quite say how… he's been distant in a rather odd way and he keeps spacing off." the girl explained as she folded her arms. "But I haven't had the chance to ask him about it yet. Perhaps one of you should bring it up to him though; he's shut me down multiple times this morning so I'd rather not push my luck." I nodded and volunteered myself since I was the one that brought it up anyway.

"You guys might want to come up here and see this." Dave called from the top of the stairs so I peered up at him just as he vanished into one of the bedrooms. Knowing it must be important, I held my breath and nervously ascended the staircase with the other two following once I safely made it to the top. I stepped into the room the shaded boy was in and was instantly filled with such a deep sadness… it was a nursery. The walls still held faded streaks of pink and toys were scattered around like someone came through here in a hurry. We all took to looking around and I stopped at a preserved picture of a family of three… a mother, a father, and their little baby girl. In her hands she clutched a small stuffed rabbit and when I looked around at other visible pictures I found that she always had that rabbit with her. With just a little more investigation… I lifted a small stuffed rabbit into my arms and dusted it off to hold it.

"What happened here?" I asked out loud but no one answered me, not sure what to tell me. What happened to all the people that were here? What happened to this little girl and her parents? Did they make it out alright? Did they live and did she grow up to have kids of her own? "Why would they leave her favorite toy?"

"Maybe they didn't have time to grab it." John suggested, his voice as low as mine.

"But why?" I demanded with tears in my eyes.

"We don't know sweetie." Rose hushed, coming to stroke my hair lightly. "We'll find out what happened here and we'll try to track down this family. I was able to make out some of their mail so we can find them, okay? I promise." I stared into her eyes for a minute, seeking for some ground to stand on and once I found it I nodded. We were all silent for a moment as I pet the stuffed toy before moving to place it back in the crib where I had found it.

"Let's keep moving." Dave called as he carelessly exited the room. His sister rubbed my arm a little before leaving as well.

"Come on Jade." John said calmly after kissing my head. I grabbed his hand and allowed him to usher me out of the room, slowly down the stairs, and out of the house. We wandered around for a while, none of us wanting to step into another house after going through the emotions of seeing that infant's room and fearing for her life.

"Does anyone feel that?" Dave suddenly asked, interrupting my train of thought.

"No…" John trailed off as his eyes began to dash around, searching for whatever the other male was feeling. Rose and I exchanged quick glances, expressing our shared concerns within our eyes. We all stopped when Dave did, watching him with worried eyes as his head slowly turned toward the house on the right of us. Following his gaze, my eyes met the sight of a house that looked to be in the same state as the others although it had a much different- darker feeling surrounding it and was the only house that had its door closed as if to contain all the secrets it kept. I had a bad feeling about this house, all the creepiness this neighborhood had… was nothing on this house.

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><p>And I already have the third chapter done but I'm not going to post it until later because I'm Ruud. Want to know a secret? Soon I won't be able to use that excuse... because I'm going to be a Snyder. Gold star to everyone who gets what that means.<p>

See you whenever I decide to post the exciting chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

Alright so I was going to wait until tomorrow but someone asked me not to so here, the third chapter. You're welcome. By the way, the delay is Cari's fault. We always read the new chapters before I post them and she doesn't want to do her homework which I said we weren't reading until she finishes so... yeah. I'm posting now because it's been requested that I do so but Cari isn't going to get to read this until tomorrow because I've grounded her from it for tonight.

Love you all and hope you enjoy the real starting chapter for this fanfiction that may eventually be converted into an original. What do you all think of that?

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><p>~*Dave Strider*~<p>

It was in here... the voice I heard earlier came from here, I could feel it. I had to go in this house but... there was something else, something nagging at me to get away. There were real terrible conflicting vibes coming from this place that was extremely intimidating. Regardless, I had to continue. It was hard but... I was the first to break the doomed silence with a mocking chuckle and a shake of my head.

"Come on, let's go in." I called, motioning for everyone to follow me as I started toward the rather creepy house.

"No- Dave!" it was John whose voice and hands reached out to stop me.

"What? Do you think it's haunted or something?" I lowered and deepened my tone toward the end of the sentence to gave it a creepier edge which judging by the slight shiver that shook John's body, I'd say it worked.

"I know it is." he spoke with just a touch too much confidence to be John and the stern look in his eyes didn't help. "I have a bad feeling about this; I don't want to go in there."

"I have a bad feeling too." Jade sided with her brother, looking a little more afraid than him which was abnormal. I looked to Rose for some back up but she just shook her head with an apologetic look. Honestly, I had a bad feeling too. But that voice and whatever has been pulling me closer was in this house and I had to find it. If this place really was 'haunted' or whatever, then whatever spirit was drawing me in wasn't going to let me go until I did. Plus... well, curiosity killed the cat. Bad feeling or not, I had to go.

"Fine." I stated though it held no surrender. The others seemed to let out a breath of relief. John released me and turned around to go back to the girls and though I honestly intended to go with them and come back here alone on my own time, when I took a single step away from the house the urge to just run inside suddenly hit me like a truck. Before I even knew what my body was doing, I whirled around and sprinted to the front door while ignoring my friends' calls and objections. My hand wrapped around the knob and turned it as my shoulder slammed into the door which saved the actual door handle mechanism but destroyed the locked deadbolt and splintered some of the wooden frame that had been keeping it in place. All of the other houses were left unlocked- hell a lot of the doors had been left open... so why was this one different? I was aware that my friends had followed me in and that my sister was lecturing me but I continued to ignore them as I looked around the strange place, a heavier weight on my shoulders with the absence of the pulling feeling demanding me to come closer. It was just... gone.

"Dave!" my sister called my attention as she grabbed my arm so I looked down at her questioning eyes.

"I…" I looked around again as if whatever had been summoning me here would show itself now that I was here but there was nothing there. "It's gone." my voice echoed the betrayal and emptiness I felt now.

"What is?" Rose cupped my face in her hands and made me look at her. She was afraid. I looked passed her to see the other two holding each other, their eyes pleading for answers like they knew what was going on in my head. "Dave." Rose called again, her fingers rubbing at my cheeks. "What is going on?"

"I… I don't know." I confessed with a shake of my head. "There was a voice-" before I could continue, the front door slammed shut and all of us jumped. Startled and freaked out, we all ran over to try to pry it open and though I had just broken it open, it wouldn't budge now. "Windows!" I yelled as I pushed the others into the living room, hoping like hell we could get out. I got them in here- I had to get them out! "No!" I yelled when the windows slammed shut too.

"What was that you were saying about a voice?" John questioned me as he tried getting a window open. "What did it want?"

"It was just calling me- help me with this!" he came over to help me lift a chair. "It went away as soon as we entered the house." we rammed the chair into the window but it did no good. It wouldn't work… no matter what we did… it wouldn't work. "Damn, it's no use." I groaned, running an angry hand through my hair.

"What do you think it wants from-"

"You guys…" Jade trailed off, backing up toward us. "Look down." we followed her gaze to the floor to see our shadows stretching, moving on their own until they slowly began to pull themselves off the ground to stand on their own feet.

"Get back." I managed as I pulled everyone by the shoulder behind me, spreading my arms out to protect them. I didn't know what was happening but I knew I had to protect them no matter what! My shadow was the first to walk toward us and I backed up when the others held onto me and pulled me back with them. No one spoke or moved too suddenly out of fear, still questioning what the hell was happening. I guess the obvious question to ask is how this is all possible or to deny that it was even real but that was the last thing on my mind. I felt it… this was real, I don't know how but it was and my only thought was of my friends' safety. "Run!" I yelled to them as I lunged forward to attack the physical shadows, hoping to make them lose their form long enough for the others to get away.

For the most part my plan seemed to be working but the more I attacked them, the less effective it seemed to be. It was like they were learning how to stay solid against my attacks… this was bad.

"I could use some good news right now!" I heard them prying at the door and windows but I didn't hear any sign of success with that. I gained similar reports of a lack of progress from all three. No luck. Fantastic. In my brief distraction, my shadow had gotten close enough to wrap a hand around my neck and lift me off my feet.

"Dave!" Rose was the first to notice but when she ran over to help me, her own shadow grabbed her in the same fashion I was being held in. I struggled against the tightening grip on my throat, trying to get my hands on something that I could throw at Rose's shadow to make it let her go.

"Help… her..." I wheezed to whoever could hear me, hoping they would have more luck saving each other than I have… I couldn't do anything... I couldn't save my friends- I couldn't save anyone! I heard fearful screaming followed by choked gasps that matched my own. What was left of my attention was drawn to the fiery red eyes within the dark figure as something seemed to change. I didn't know what it was at first but then I saw it… it was changing physically. It was turning into a mirror image of me! I stared into my own shaded eyes, seeing nothing but an ominous red glow behind their protective cover.

But then it started to change again. His blonde hair turned black from the roots out and a misty shadow hovered over one side of his outfit, changing it from what it was. Half of it was still the outfit I was wearing, black jeans and my red sleeved broken record shirt, while the other half was the white suit I wore to Gramp's funeral; a red thread stitched up the middle of the two outfits. The hand around my neck started to feel less human, what was supposed to be skin now felt very rough and almost scaly. The mist covered his face and when it went away there was a white mask in it's place. It reminded me of an old fashioned plague doctor's with my sunglasses covering the eye holes though there were white rings inside of a twirling red gear outline over the lenses. The same kind of red thread from his clothes started to stitch the mask to his face, leaving blood trickling down his face but he never flinched as if he didn't feel it. Black feathers grew from the thing's neck and with a grinding sound black wings sprouted from its back and blood oozed into the red and white fabric of its shirt. Finally the mist returned again in the small space between us and revealed a sword- that went right through the thing's stomach! He reacted to it not out of pain but out of the force of its momentum as it entered his body.

At this point, my vision was starting to blur as the inhuman hand suffocating me got tighter with actual emotion to back it up. I could feel the hatred my own shadow held for me and I longed to show this thing how much I hated it back. We glared death at each other, what felt like talons ripping into my throat stealing more and more of my breath away from me. I wanted to look for the others, see if they were going through something like this as well but I couldn't take my eyes away from the monster before me. It was getting harder to fight for consciousness, soon I wouldn't have a choice but to give in. I tried to formulate some sort of plan to get us all out of this hell but even thinking was difficult now.

It was a loud thud that finally pulled my eyes away from my shadow's. My friends were being dropped to the ground one by one, unmoving but breathing. They were still alive, just unconscious. Their shadows had run off into the darkness that surrounded us and now they were out cold and I was left alone with this… this thing. He glared at me harder, nothing but hate and ill wishes burning in his eyes. I was getting weaker, I couldn't grasp anymore at his wrist to try to pry it off of me- I couldn't even glare back at him.

My lungs felt like they were on fire, left to shrivel up under the flames and this grotesque version of myself was gripping my throat so tightly I thought it was about to break. On the verge of passing out, I tried to at least show him that I wasn't going to surrender to him. I wouldn't give him that. I felt my eyes rolling back and I began to fear death... what if he hated me enough to just kill me here though the others had been spared?

Just before my fuzzy vision went out, someone- or something grabbed my shadow and I saw him turn away from me for the first time since I was grabbed. I heard some weird noises before his glare returned to me. That was the last thing I saw before I was released to hit the decaying hardwood floors.

~*Rose Lalonde*~

Looking over the faces of my friends, I saw that they were getting the same bad vibes from this place as I was. There were mixed feelings of hate, fear, and loneliness that we were all experiencing from just looking at this place. I could tell by the abandoned expression we all shared as if these were our own emotions. Though it was just like the other houses, this one was so much different in a way I couldn't explain. I felt something in there, watching with a hungry gaze and waiting for us to step into its lair.

A nervous chuckle pierced through my thought and I flinched as Dave moved closer to said lair.

"Come on, let's go in."

"No- Dave!" John shouted as he grabbed ahold of him to stop him. Dave tried to retain control of the situation by poking some fun but the other spoke with such authority with back up from his sister that seemed to make even Dave Strider's confidence sway slightly. His head turned to me, his eyebrows pulled together and I could imagine his pleading eyes. He wanted to go into the house, perhaps believing that whatever he was looking for was in there but I didn't want to find out what it was. I shook my head apologetically, looking back at him with a combination of pity and sympathy. If it were me, I would fight to figure out what was pulling me but in this situation, I believed it was best for us to just leave it be.

"Fine." the rest of us released a big breath of relief as though we had been holding our breath all this time. But our secure feeling was short lived as my foolish brother rushed to the house and broke the door open.

"No!" I yelled at him as we all chased after him but it was too late, the door gave in and allowed the blonde boy into the house. Stepping through the front door of this house was like stepping into another world entirely. The air was heavy and the presence of that very evil thing that was watching us was all around as if closing in on us to devour us completely. We needed to get out of here- now. "Dave!" I shouted in worry as I grabbed his arm, thankfully getting him to look at me for a moment.

"I..." he paused as his head trailed around the around, still searching but finding nothing. Something was different about him now; he didn't seem to be under a trance as he had seemed to be earlier, now he just looked alone... like something had left him. "It's gone." he sounded so defeated.

"What is?" I asked, bringing my hands to either side of his face to try and calm him though my own mind was in a state of panic. I felt his gaze leave me again so I rubbed my thumbs into his skin, struggling to keep his attention. "Dave." I called softly so not to startle him. "What is going on?" I pleaded with him, begging for some understanding.

"I... I don't know." he finally said, shaking as his as if to collect himself. "There was a voice-" the four of us jumped in fear when there was a loud slam and I spun around to see the front door was closed. Snapped out of whatever was running through his mind, Dave ran over to it to attempt to get it open with the rest of us trying to support him but it wouldn't move. That didn't make sense- he busted it open just a moment ago. Next we tried the windows with the same results as the door, nothing. We were trapped... something really was after us, wasn't it?

"What was that you were saying about a voice? What did it want?" John questioned, still prying at the windows though it was useless. Though I didn't currently have a better idea to get us out of here so I didn't say anything against their efforts.

"It was just calling me- help me with this!" the boys lifted a chair and rammed it into a window but it didn't even crack the glass though it should be fragile with age. It was all useless. Something evil and powerful really wanted us here so here is where we would remain until it was finished with us and something told me that we wouldn't be alive by the time it was finished with us. "It went away as soon as we entered the house." so it used Dave to get us all here and now... it would have its way with us unless we found a way to stop it.

Dave cursed to himself when he finally realized that trying to break out wouldn't work and John had started to say something when Jade backed up into me and cut him off.

"You guys..." she started as I held onto her shoulders to stabilize her. "Look down." my eyes shot to the floor to witness our shadows climbing to their feet, their limbs swaying as if unable to retain whatever solidness they were holding which caused them to stumble and fall but they got back up.

"Get back." my brother ordered as he guided us to stand behind him and as the shadows progressed forward, we pulled him backward with us until we hit a wall. I tried to remember something- anything from the books on monsters and demons I had read but I was so afraid I could think of a single thing! I read those books so that I would be able to identify creatures if I ever encountered one and understand how to deal with it but nothing- not all the books in the world could have prepared me for this! What was I supposed to do? I knew something was going to happen yet I allowed it to and now I couldn't even collect myself enough to think of a solution! "Run!" Dave yelled as he threw himself forward at the shadows to buy us time. He was trying to protect us, Grandfather would be proud.

His noble act kick started me back to myself and I rushed to a window not to pry it open as the other two were once again doing but to move anything in front of it. Maybe if we could flood the room with light, the shadows would disappear or return to normal. I looked back to where Dave was fighting off our shadows to see that nothing changed... because the light in the room was actually fading... but that made no sense! There was still plenty of sunlight outside so why wouldn't it come in?

"I could use some good news right now!" the noble knight shouted in distress. Since I didn't have the good news we all wanted, I didn't want to say anything but I knew I had to even if it was just to assure my brother that nothing had happened to me while he wasn't watching.

"Light won't come in so we can't make them disappear that way." the other two had made no progress with opening the door or the windows. I stopped for a moment to further analyze our shadows and possibly find some clue as what they really were when Dave was grabbed by the throat by his shadow and forced off his feet! "Dave!" I screamed, sprinting forward in panic, hoping to help him somehow but just before I reached him my own shadow got ahold of me and suspended me in the air by my neck as I struggled to breathe.

I stared down at the misty figure with flaming purple eyes that had captured me as it started to take my form! Once it had stolen my appearance, it changed again into some heinous version of me. Her skin turned darker, a sickly purplish-black before patches of what seemed to be thin fabric of various purple shades appeared on my shadow's face followed by a thin black thread that stitched it over her skin with random placement, leaving thin bead of blood on her face. Her lips stretched to form more of a cat shaped mouth and the mysterious thread returned to keep it in place though blood oozed from behind her sharp fangs.

My eyes were drawn down when I noticed a black fog heading toward my shadow's feet and when it vanished, they had been with clawed cat paws though up toward her knees socks ended as if that's all they were yet her toes clenched to show that they were real. I questioned everything I had learned about monsters but nothing like this came to mind so I questioned realty until my shadow's grip on my neck tightened as if to confirm that this truly was real. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see any of this- praying that maybe this was just a very vivid nightmare and I could wake up but my shadow's grip on me tightened until I nearly passed out though she let up before that could happen. It was a warning, I knew it was. I was supposed to watch. I slowly opened my eyes and tried to do what she wanted though my vision was badly blurred.

Her hair faded to nearly a white before thorns sprouted from her head, placed as if they were horns that were followed by a large spike at the very top of her cranium that was wrapped by a small thorny vine. Four more thorns stabbed through her cheeks, two on each side, it all looked very painful and each wound seeped blood. The black fog once again came over her clothes and after it was gone, I saw that she was wearing an old outfit I wore when trying to get my mother's attention by looking more like her. It was a simple white short skirt and a white button up short sleeved shirt with a purple skull on the right side though the sleeves were suddenly ruined when thick lively green vines and blood shot out of her shoulders and destroyed her arms to replace them, two on the left and one on the right. Next purple roses and thorns began to grow on her new arms, blood following them in small bursts.

I remember faintly thinking how pretty the roses on her arms were as her eyes grew insecure and defensive which caused her vines to once again tighten around my neck. I was just grateful that her thorns weren't touching my skin lest they pierce through a vein and kill me. Sensing that my shadow was scared, my already tired body and oxygen deprived brain stopped fighting and surrendered to the darkness creeping up the edges of my eyes. The last thing I remember was the quick retreat of paws on a creaky wooden floor.

~*John Egbert*~

I didn't like the feeling this house gave me, it wasn't like the other ones... it's like I could feel something inside of it, something really nasty. I know I was the ne talking about how cool it would be to run into a ghost but I swear I was talking about friendly ghosts, not whatever this was! If this is what being near a haunted house felt like, I would gladly give up ever wanting to see ghosts for good.

"Come on, let's go in." Dave gestured for us to follow him as he headed for the door but my panicked mind pushed my body to quickly grab his arm before he got too far.

"No- Dave!" my best bro turned back to me with an irritated look on his face.

"What? Do you think it's haunted or something?" he asked, using a creepy voice to freak me out which sent a small tremor down my spine. I was already freaked out; he didn't need to try to make it worse.

"I know it is." I stated strongly with a stern nod of my head. "I have a bad feeling about this; I don't want to go in there."

"I have a bad feeling too." Jade quickly pitched in and I wanted to go to her to comfort her since she sounded scared but I needed to make sure Dave understood that we were not going into this house. There was something seriously dangerous in here, couldn't he feel it? He looked away from me, probably to Rose but didn't seem to get any approval from her either. Now I'm not the best at reading stoic cool kids but I almost noticed a bit of a falter in his confidence about his decision. Maybe we got through to him.

"Fine." I smiled with a thankful sigh and finally released his arm, nodding to him to show my appreciation. Just as I turned to my sister to assure her that everything was fine now, Dave spun back to the house and sprinted up the porch.

"Stop!" I screamed in panic as I went after him to hopefully stop him before he went into the house but he was faster than the rest of us. The sound of the front door breaking open echoed in my ears as a disgusting feeling of horror and betrayal swelled in my chest. Still I went into the haunted house after my best friend, thinking maybe I would punch him or something but Rose got to him before I did and tried to get answers from him.

"John..." my sister muttered, looking around nervously as if surrounded by something that scared her. Jade was really tough, a lot more than I was but when something did manage to get under her skin, she froze up and didn't know what to do about it.

"It's okay." I shooshed her as I offered my arms, allowing her to hold onto me for at least some level of safety and honestly, having her in my arms made me feel better too. If Dave had only listened to us and not fucking come in here, we wouldn't need to search for any form of comfort. But... there was something odd about the way he was suddenly acting. The way he spoke so small and unsure was so unlike him and how he kept gazing around as if he was lost... something was wrong and it was scaring me. This wasn't like Dave, what was happening?

"What is going on?" Rose asked him, her voice low and desperate.

"I... I don't know." the air got much more tense with his words. Was he possessed earlier and released when we got into the house? If so, that nasty ghost that lurked over us now had us where it wanted. We needed to get the hell out- now! "There was a voice-" I involuntarily yelped when a loud bang sounded from behind us. I spun around to see the once open door closed. My heart fell to the floor as I realized it was too late... it had us trapped now, we couldn't get out. Still, I helped the others attempt to pry the door open and the fact that the broken door wouldn't open again... I think that showed the level of screwed we were. "Windows!" the blonde boy called so we all rushed to the windows to try to escape but before we reached them they all started to slam shut. We so weren't getting out.

"What was that you were saying about a voice?" I asked as we tried the windows, knowing our time to escape was quickly passing. Maybe the voice he heard was what had possessed him; I needed more information to be able to tell. "What did it want?"

"It was just calling me- help me with this!" at his command, I rushed over to him to take half of the weight of the chair he was picking up. "It went away as soon as we entered the house." he informed me before we thrust the chair at a window with all we had but there was absolutely no damage to the glass... this was so impossible.

"What do you think it wants from-"

"You guys..." worried, I turned to Jade and was glad to see her safe with Rose. "Look down." my confused eyes turned to the floor and terror filled them at the sight of our shadows rising from the ground as if they were their own beings. This whole thing was something straight out of a horror show!

"Get back." Dave ordered with a worried but strong tone as he pushed us behind him so they would have to get through him to get to us. As a man, I felt pathetic for cowering behind him like this but at least the girls were behind me, Jade holding onto me as if she were drowning. And I... I was so scared, I couldn't help but to accept the offered safety. I didn't know what the shadow things wanted, they could be friendly- or they could want to kill us! I knew we shouldn't have come here! We held onto Dave as we backed up to get away from the shadow monsters and eventually we hit a wall as they continued to progress toward us. "Run!" the shaded boy yelled as he sprang forward to distract our shadows. Rose hurried over to a window so I grabbed my sister's hand and ran to the door, set on getting it open. I managed to wedge my fingers between the frame and the door where it splintered off when Dave busted it open and pulled with all my might but it still wouldn't move! "I could use some good news right now." Dave called to us and I slumped in defeat, knowing that no matter what we did we couldn't get out.

"Don't have any!" I shouted back as I moved to grab something to pry the door open with or to try smashing in a window again.

"Let me out!" my sister cried into the thick air and I sighed with worry, looking over her trembling figure with a sympathetic expression. I wished I could just open a hole in the wall and let her out but… it's the thought that counts. I reached over to her and stroked her hair, giving her a quick nod and an attempted reassuring smile though she only looked more saddened by it as tears sprang to her large green eyes.

"Dave!" Rose screamed so I turned to see her running toward her sibling who was trapped by a shadow only to get caught herself.

"Dave, Rose!" Jade yelled, starting forward to help them but I held her back so the monsters couldn't get her as well though she shouted objections.

"We have to get out or we'll-" I stopped midsentence as we both froze in fear when we were faced with Jade's shadow. As it reached out to grab her, I pulled her away and all but offered myself in her place. "Leave her alone!" I exclaimed with a fearful glare before it lifted its arm to smack me out of the way. I heard Jade scream and saw her terrified face and after I hit the floor and looked back up at her... she was held in the air by her throat. My scared call of her name was cut short when a rough hand wrapped around my neck and hauled me up to my feet and then into the air. I stared into the empty face of my own shadow, watching as the eyes filled with what seemed to be a burning blue fire and its dark shadow form was no more when it became me. I gathered my strength and glared at my reflection. "Imposter." I managed and an evil taunting expression I'm sure I've never used spread on its face to stare back at me with as it began to change again. Its skin became so white I thought it was a doll and its teeth grew so sharp I was reminded of a shark. A dark misty thing floated over my impersonator's body and changed his clothing so he was wearing pants and a shirt that was half white and half black and had red stitches and blood going up the middle through the green slime ghost, the shirt having a weird spiked pattern at the bottom that opposed the colored side of the shirt they were on. The guy even wore one black shoe and one white.

I looked up just as the mist dissipated to see a white harlequin hat atop his head of wild black hair with blood splattered around the rim, black oil dots going up the center spike along with out of place blue and green smears, and a cut on the right spike that severed the tip and oozed a mysterious blue slime. His ears pointed slightly and the area around his eyes, nose, and mouth began to get darker until it just looked like someone had messed up his face paint. I thought it was odd and looked funny, almost to the point I kind of wanted to laugh. Maybe this was some sort of visual effects prank and Dave was a part of it which is why he led us here to this awful nightmare.

I jumped in shock when my shadow's right eyeball suddenly burst; exploding blood onto the inside of his glasses lense though he didn't seem to notice or care! Oh my god, okay this wasn't a prank! I could see the inside of his eye and it was disgusting- someone please make him stop looking at me or at least scoop the rest of it out! Anything! I was about to throw up! What made it worse was that green slime started to pour from his other eyes and it smeared itself around before a drop of it formed that just wouldn't fall! From between his teeth came some blood alongside more of that blue stuff and I got a really bad taste in my mouth. I tried to look away but he forced me to look only at him.

The skin of his right arm that held me up started to feel less like skin and more like… wood? And they sort of creaked when he tightened his fingers around my skin. I looked at it to see two bloody slices trailing around his arm and was confused until the section between the cuts began to tear away from his bone! Skin, muscle, and everything until there was just a bloody mess left over though oddly enough the end of the cut closest to me was smooth like it wasn't even skin that was cut into but rather it was something that was made to end there while the cut closest to the shoulder was all ragged torn flesh and was… the only reason I wasn't regurgitating my lunch was because the hand around my neck was preventing anything from getting through, air and stomach acid alike.

I was sprayed with a little blood when his left arm was suddenly severed from his shoulder, leaving nothing but a jagged part of the bone! Just looking at it… now my stomach felt really heavy- or light, I couldn't tell. My head was spinning for another reason than being suffocated and my shadow seemed to be pleaded with my passing out because I heard him chuckle darkly and utter a single line before everything went out.

"Sweet dreams."

~*Jade Harley*~

This house definitely had much more of a creepy factor than the others had and it gave me a bad feeling as to what happened to all the residents in this neighborhood. Somehow I felt like this place was the source of everything bad that went down here. All the worry and fear that had been building in me since we were in that nursery seemed to just swell until it nearly suffocated me. It was really unbearable! There was so much agony in that house, I could sense it! I wanted to leave and I wanted to leave now!

"Come on, let's go in." Dave's voice snapped my attention back to the here and now and my first thought was that he was crazy! He stepped closer to the house and before I could voice my objections, my brother's arms whipped out to grab him. I held my breath in anticipation as I placed a hand over my chest to feel my pounding heart, knowing we were out of the woods yet.

"I have a bad feeling about this; I don't want to go in there." John sounded so sure about himself in this questionable time and I admired that about him.

"I have a bad feeling too." I piped up and instantly felt smaller for it when I heard the sound of my own voice. It was small and frightened… that's how I felt but I was hoping to come off more like John because I'm sure he was scared too. It wasn't really like me to be so cowardly, I just… this house was full of suffering and I just knew something really terrible happened here. Something terrible would happen to us if we went in.

"Fine." Dave spat and though I was glad that he was backing down, I didn't quite feel like this was over yet. Sure enough, the shaded teenager took off toward the house as soon as the other boy let go of his arm. Although the way he was moving… something was off. I thought his behavior all day was because of his grandpa's passing but what if it was something else altogether?

"Please don't do it!" I exclaimed as he reached the door, moving to break it down but I was too late. We all chased after him as he broke into the house and I hesitated for a moment at the door. Though I would give anything not to go in there… my friends were now beyond this treacherous threshold. I held my breath and stepped passed the frame, entering a whole new world of vile hatred and twisting sorrows. It hit me like a speeding car… I started getting flashbacks of the wreck I was in that killed my family. I was yelling and crying and kicking the back of the seat though everyone told me to settle down. I was confused and angry… and scared. "John…" I mumbled to him and he turned to me with a sympathetic look as he opened his caring arms to me.

"It's okay." he told me as I hugged him to stabilize myself. I didn't know what was happening to me or this place or if the others could feel it but I felt like I was swaying as my surrounding spun and pulsed with a demented energy that seemed to be growing. It made me feel sick. I could almost hear laughing as the pulsing grew as though something was waking up and I knew that could only be a very bad thing. The next thing I knew the front door slammed shut and we all rushed over to attempt to get it opened but things only got worse when the windows closed up as well. This was very bad indeed. We were trapped and needed to get out! I was panicking and raced around with the others, trying to find some other way out- there had to be another way!

My friends were talking, probably about what we should do so I knew I should be listening by my mind was so deep in fear and panic that I couldn't focus! Something was going to happen- something very very bad. I wanted out… I just wanted out… let me out. I felt like I was dying. My hands found their way to my head and tugged at my hair to try to pull me out of whatever chaos I was falling victim to. My eyes flickered around the floor but caught on a slow movement, locking onto it when it continued, and widened when I realized what it was. My shadow went against my actions and used its arms to lift itself up as if it had been laying on the floor and it was just getting up, gaining a three dimensional form as it did so.

"You guys…" I called as my feet carried me backwards toward my friends, my fearful eyes locked onto my shadow as it continued to move on its own. I felt someone's hands on my shoulder to reassure me that I wasn't alone although it didn't make me feel any safer. Whatever bad thing I'm sure we all knew was going to happen here was happening and there's nothing we could do to stop it. We were trapped. "Look down." surprised and scared gasps sounded around me when the others saw that their shadows were doing the same thing mine was and I guess that made me feel a little better since it wasn't just in my head.

"Get back." Dave commanded, his hands tugging each of us back as he stepped forward to sacrifice himself. I clung onto my brother for my life, my knees feeling so weak I thought I would fall. The black figures pulled themselves to their feet and hobbled closer to us now, bits of their bodies spilling to the ground and fading as if they were put together very poorly only to repair themselves. One's arm reached out to us, the gesture giving no warm greeting but rather a hostile overtake. "Run!" I didn't need to be told twice before I bolted for the door with John since he held my hand in his. I pulled and even pushed on it to no avail. John threw his weight into it to hopefully cause more damage to what Dave already dealt but it had turned into a brick wall that refused to crumble under one scrawny boy. Everyone was shouting back and forth to each other, trying to get out while I just went back to holding my head and staring at the floor. I couldn't believe this was happening- I couldn't! How could our shadows be moving on their own? It just wasn't possible! There wasn't really all that much light in here to play tricks on us, let alone to make it seem like they were standing and trying attack us! How? How!

"Let me out!" I screamed regardless that I knew it would do nothing. I just wanted to go home and forget about this but the upset churning in my stomach reminded me where I was so I couldn't pretend like that might actually be a possibility. I jumped in fear when a hand touched my hair and on instinct I almost lashed out at whatever it was before I realized it was John. He was looking at me with such a pleadingly calm expression though he was still obviously scared. I felt tears sting my eyes as it sunk in that he was here with me. John, Dave, and Rose were here too. They were probably just as afraid and confused as I was but they were still trying their hardest to get us out of here and then here I was, being useless feeling sorry for myself. I was being selfish by thinking only of myself when my friends were in danger too, not just me.

"Dave!" Rose's desperate voice called in panic, causing John and I to spin to see what was going on. The blonde boy was held in the air by his own shadow that held him up by the neck! She dashed forward to save him but was caught and held the same way by her shadow.

"Dave, Rose!" I shouted as I tried to go help them, hoping to redeem myself for being so useless until now but my brother's arms wrapped around my waist to prevent me from going. "Let me go- we have to help them!" I cried to him but he refused to let me go.

"We have to get out or we'll-" he suddenly stopped and slowly released a shaky breath which made me still, fearful of what had caused him to act like a deer caught in the headlights. It wasn't hard to find… my shadow was standing close to us, watching as if it was interested in what we were doing. Now that we had stopped our little quarrel since we had noticed it, the thing lifted its arm though it only seemed interested in me. "Leave her alone!" John yelled at the risen shadow as he moved me out of its way regardless that his actions put him directly in front of it. Instead of capturing him as the others had been, my shadow raised an arm and swatted him out of the way as if he were nothing more than a nuisance in the way of a giant.

"John!" I screamed as I tried to reach for my brother but my shadow was so close to him… I practically ran right into its hand and let it haul my ass into the air. I swung my legs but they couldn't touch the ground and they just went through the misty form that held me, its dangerous green eyes glowing brightly as if they were made of uranium. My eyes widened and a struggled cry made its way up my throat when my shadow took on my appearance! There was a cracking sound that made me cringe as something green and- uranium was forcing its way out of the thing's skull! With a spray of blood, a second pair of arms sprang from her sides and from the right one come a third though there were still only two left arms. White dog ears poked out from under her black hair and her face became a little misshapen to look more like a dog's with fur jutting out of her cheeks. Her teeth pointed as he growled at me, sounding more like an animal than a human and then her nails grew to become much sharper and turned black in color.

Gaining a look of hatred and ferocity, I became even more scared as her claws began to sink into my skin and every breath got twice as hard to suck in. My shadow's body jerked as small circular wounds opened all around her body as if she was being shot even though she didn't seem to feel any pain! I was now faced with some sort of demented dog version of myself that seemed extremely pissed off and ready to kill something- ready to kill me! I wanted to scream- wanted to call for help but this thing held onto me tighter and completely cut off my breath. The best I could manage was a small choked squeak that I'm not sure even my shadow was able to pick up although her ear did twitch. Maybe before I was killed… I wondered how the others were doing but it was hard to see anyone from where I was and my blurred vision did nothing to help me. My clone was making quite a bit of noise, growls and even a few barks jumping from her mouth which oozed with blood as if she had just someone.

I wished I wouldn't die here… I wished I had tried harder to be there for my friends… and I wished I could see my family again to apologize for what I did to them. The last thing on my mind before everything slowly faded to black was John… I wanted to see his smiling face and hear his dorky laughter just one more time… just once.

* * *

><p>So no one wants a gold star? They're tasty. *shrugs* Oh well, that's what I get for trying to be clever.<p> 


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